TIIOilAS I.UMBER GO.

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936 Petroleum Bldg., Los Angeles 15, Grlil. Telephone Rlchmond 2246

Storcge cqpacity of our two ycgds is cpproxinidtely 25,000,000 Ieet. We cre now unloc'ding ctnd handling trbout l'000,000 leet cr dcry. Shed capacity lor plywood and kiln-dried lumber is 2,000,000 feet.

Embarking Upon New D/^] r rogram \,rr Product Refinement

N. O. Cruver

Douglas fir door manufacturers, rvho in 1938 established through the U. S. Bureatr of Standards the first industrycluality specifications for stock doors, are embarking upon an intensive ne\\' program of product refinement.

Tl.ris announcement comes from Tacoma, Wash., headcluarters of Fir Door Institute, the trade promotion association for the ten factories of he Pacific Northrvest. and was released follorving the recent annual meeting of the grorlp. These factories turn out about trvo thirds of the nation's stock house doors.

"Determined to improve constantly fir doors for maximum utility and beauty, our industry is launching a morc elaborate and axacting system of quality control during procluction and industry grade-marking for ready indentificatioh in the field," according to N. O. Cruver, president of The Wheeler-Osgood Co. of Tacoma and newly-electerl president of the door institute.

The intensified vigilance, he said, rvill go l.rand-in-hancl u'ith emphasis on increased output to fill as fast as possibie the re-housing demands of the nation. The industry inspection service 'lvill soon be instituted for ail Tru-fit entrance closures (produced under U. S. CS91-41) and for Factrifit interior doors (produced under CS73-45). Also involved are the tlr,o specialty products marketed by the Douglas 1ir cloor producers-Crar,r'-Fir-Dor, a lou'-cost, overhead garage door, and the Sav-a-Space framework for sliding doors.

Although production is concentrated on tl-re interior and entrance doors vital to the housing program and relatively few of the specialty items are being made, still output is far short of apparent demand at the moment. A measure of encouragement c.n be gleaned, the institute president announced, from the fact that producton is on the upswing.

In reviewing recent history of the SO-year-old I)ouglas fir door industry, the association president focused attention on the importance of the new advancement known as factory-fitting of interior doors. Stock closures now are manufactured to exact size, thus precluding hand cutting and fitting on the job. Not only does this result in over-all construction economies, but of even greater importance, a more attractive closure is assured the ultimate consumer as the danger of nis-fitting or marring due to dull hand tools is eliminated.

Factri-fit doors also are resin sealed at the plant to provide protection during shipment, to save on-the-job painting time and contribute to a superior finish. Further, Cruver explains, fir door makers now offer Factri-fit doors tl.rat, 'rvhen so specified, are gained for hinges and bored for standard tubular locks.

Adoption of precise-size manuf.actttre of interior Douglas fir doors follows the successful pre-fitting of entrance doors of the Tru-fit line produced by the same concerns. The entrance closures, offered in 27 difrerent architecturally-correct designs, too, are precision-made for beauty and economy and are ready to hang lvithout hand-cutting at the building site.

The volume of specialty items of the fir door manufacturers procluced since the end of the rvar necessarily has remained relatively low as first concern has been the output of interior and exterior doors for the housing program. Nonetheless, the tu'o outstanding products-Crar,vFir-Dor overhead garage doors and Sav-a-Space sliding door {ramesremain attractive to home o\\'ners and builders alike.

When first introduced by the fir door industry in i939, the lox' cost Craw-Fir-Dor immediately put the retail lumber dealer back in the garage door business. Of lighter construction with plywood panels and simplified operating hardware than previously knor.vn, the item at once became a leader. Two improved, post'ivar models of the door again are being made, and as before the door, together r.vith

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Plans Active Campaign Against Proposed California Senate Bill No. 215

The Legislative Committee of the Lumber Merchants Association of Northern California has completed its preparations for an active campaign against the recently introduced bill that would establish the State of California in every phase of the lumber, building materials and home construction industries, Robert J. Wright, executive vicepresident of the Association, announced.

The proposal, Senate Bill No. 215, was introduced by Senator Bradford S. Crittenden, Republican, of Stockton. Crittenden asked for an appropriation of 25 million dollars, to be used by the State for buying or building sawmills, cutting state-owned timber, constructing or buying factories and operational plants to produce building materials, and acquiring sites and building houses and apartment buildiirgs.

"This absurd piece of legislation would put the State of California in direct competition with private enterprise," Wright declared. "The need today is not so much for lumber or building materials, as both of these products are coming through in e.ver-increasing quantities, but for more skilled carpenters, plumbers, painters and other craftsmen. Crittenden's bill would not help the housing situation in the least. By the time this cumbersome plan got into operation there would be no problem left to solve," Wright stated.

The Lumber Merchants Association's plans call for concerted action on the part of 'the membership of more than 40O retail lumber dealers throughout Northern California.

Members of the Association's Legislative Committee are: Chairman, Wendell Robie, Auburn Lumber Company, Auburn; George Adams, Noah Adams Lumber Company, Walnut Grove; Henry Laws, Laws & Yeager Company, Santa Rosa; Jo Shepard, Builders Emporium, El Cerrito; M. A. Harris, Van Arsdale-Harris Lumber Company, San Francisco; F. L. Dettmann, Allen & Dettmann, San Francisco.

Next Meeting Hoo-Hoo Club No. 39 At Clcremont Hotel, Feb. 17

The next meeting of Hoo-Hoo Cub No. 39 will be held in the Blue and Gold room Claremont Hotel, Berkeley, on Monday evening, February 17' This will be the club's 22nd birthday. All past presidents have been invited to be the guests of the club at this meeting.

New Program of Product Refinem€nt

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hardware, is sold as a complete package by retail lumber dealers.

The other specialty introduced by the fir door makers as a progressive marketing step, the Sav-a-Space assembly, likewise was refined during war years. In principle it is the same: an assembled framework with overhead track that carries a sliding door, the assembly to fit into any standard 2x4 wall during construction or remodeling. However, the new track which carries the light metal rollers now is manufactured of hardwood and the package, handled by the- retail lumber dealer, now includes finish hardware as well as operating hardware.

New Officers

Cruver, who told of the products and objectives of the Douglas fir door makers following his election to the industry presidency, succeeds J. P. Simpson, general manager of Buffelen Lbr. & Mfg. Co., also of Tacoma.

Other new omcers of the door institute include: R. E. Seeley, vice president of Simpson Industries fnc. of Seattle, vice president; A. C. Peterson, Buffelen sales manager, treasurer; Herman Snider, production manager of Acme Door Co. of Hoquiam, 'Wash', secretary; and Herman E. Tenzler, president of Northwest Door Co. of Tacoma, trustee.

The officers act as a management committee for affairs of the ten-factory industry. Five of the plants are located at Tacoma while others are scattered in other cities of Western Washington and Oregon. The institute, which has offices in the Tacoma building, soon will move into a larger suite on another floor of the structure.

In Wholescrle Lumber Business

Volney G. Spalding has started in the wholesale lumber business for himself, and will operate as the Spalding Lumber Co. His office is at 803 Petroleum Building, Los Angeles; the telephone number is Rlchmond 7-4841.

H. *", with Witired T. Cooper before the war when they operated the Cooper-Spalding Lumber Co. with offices in Pasadena. Volney was in the Marine Corps for two years' and spent a year overseas with the 28th Marines. He is well known throughout the Southern California territory, and his many friends are wishing him success in the wholesale lumber business.